An independent experimental fact-checking site, exploring and advocating ways to make fact-checking better.
The mainstream fact checkers can’t seem to wait to grasp one of the Holy Grails of fact-checking: Live fact-checking. The problem? Live fact-checking leads directly toward a magnification of one of fact-checking’s standard problems, selection bias. In standard fact-checking, the fact checkers pick a claim and then take their time in (hopefully!) getting the facts right and then reporting on…
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“Kaine said Castile was stopped by police 40 or 50 times before the time when he was fatally wounded. According to multiple independent press reports, that is accurate. Police had stopped Castile at least 46 times.” —PolitiFact, from a fact check of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine, Oct. 5, 2016 Overview PolitiFact largely drops the context of Kaine’s remark,…
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“Donald Trump off-base in saying murders are up in New York City” —PolitiFact headline, Sept. 27, 2016 Overview Democrat presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said murders are going down under New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio. Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, contradicting Clinton during debate, said murders are going up. PolitiFact came down on Clinton’s side, but the numbers do…
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It was announced on Sept. 15, 2016 that the “International Fact-Checking Network” had released its code of principles for fact checkers, with 35 organizations signing the document to commit to its principles. Zebra Fact Check commits to the the International Fact-Checking Network’s statement of principles, according the caveats expressed in the following signing statement. (1) A COMMITMENT TO NONPARTISANSHIP AND…
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“They asked about 2,000 K-12 teachers who reported in large part that they were seeing an increase in bullying, especially among immigrants, children of immigrants and Muslim students.” —PolitiFact Senior Writer Lauren Carroll, during an Aug. 27, 2016 appearance on MSNBC Live. Overview Fact-checker Lauren Carroll passed along false information to the MSNBC audience, reproducing and magnifying errors from…
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This page presents the best evidence from a Southern Poverty Law Center survey report alleging (in part) an increase in bullying and harassment, targeting immigrants and Muslims. We assert fair use as our justification for presenting this material from that report, as it supplements an original work critical of the SPLC report and media claims stemming from that report. Find…
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Email message to PolitiFact’s Lauren Carroll concerning her Aug. 27, 2016 appearance on MSNBC Live. Sent Sept. 4, 2016. Dear Lauren Carroll, (cc Angie Drobnic Holan) I’m a fact checking journalist, and I’m preparing a fact check of claims you made about the “Trump Effect” on MSNBC on Aug. 27, 2016. I’m focusing primarily on the following claim, though the…
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On Aug. 26, 2016, mainstream fact checker PolitiFact published a spectacularly awful examination of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s claim that teachers were reporting a “Trump Effect” in schools involving an increase in harassment and bullying of some minority groups. PolitiFact relied for its evidence on an extremely flawed survey from the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center. PolitiFact also…
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Aug. 28, 2016 email message addressed to the PolitiFact writer/editor team of Lauren Carroll and Aaron Sharockman Dear Lauren Carroll, Aaron Sharockman, Your fact check of Hillary Clinton’s claim about the rise of bullying in our schools was filled with problems, but there’s one that I expect you ought to care deeply about, so I’m writing to point it out….
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Aug. 29, 2016 email from Zebra Fact Check The fact-checking website PolitiFact recently published a fact check that was heavily reliant on a survey published by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The fact check noted that the survey had too many methodological problems to count as solid scientific evidence, yet the story’s conclusion made it appear that each of you,…
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